When LG first launched its OLED TVs back in 2012, there’s no denying it was a display revolution. Admittedly OLED wasn’t a new technology, but it took a company with vision and deep pockets to turn it into a viable proposition for consumer TVs.

It wasn’t an easy journey, but after six years LG’s billion-dollar investment is finally paying off. The Korean giant is practically the only manufacturer of large screen OLED panels, and it now supplies every other TV manufacturer with the notable exception of arch-rival Samsung.

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While that’s good news in terms of panel sales, it does mean that LG now faces greater competition when it comes to OLED TVs. So what can LG do to make its new range competitive in a crowded marketplace of its own making?

The LG C9 is the company’s latest OLED 4K TV, and represents the sweet spot in its 2019 line-up. However the technology has largely reached its apex in terms of brightness and colour, which means LG has mainly concentrated on features this year.

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That means AI (artificial intelligence) with everything, a souped-up smart platform, improved picture processing, and the addition of HDMI 2.1 inputs. LG is the only manufacturer to have embraced the latest version of HDMI, giving it a definite marketing edge.

Naturally there’s support for high dynamic range (HDR), and LG’s continued partnership with Dolby means the C9 includes both Vision and Atmos. However, with some manufacturers now sporting HDR10+ as well, is the C9 feature-packed enough?

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Minimalist looks

The LG C9 doesn’t deviate from the company’s design playbook, and boasts a minimalist appearance that takes advantage of OLED’s unique characteristics. The self-emissive nature of the panel makes it ultra-thin, and the C9 has a look that’s both sophisticated and contemporary.

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There’s virtually no bezel around the screen, and it’s mere millimetres thick at the top. Things widen out towards the bottom where the electronics, connections, and speakers are housed, but even then it’s only 46.9mm deep. The result is an appearance that is incredibly sleek.

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The TV sits on a stand that is similar to last year’s C8. It’s designed to forward project the sound from the downward-firing speakers, and there’s a weighted section at the rear to provide balance. The stand has a dark brushed-metal finish, a design choice that’s also repeated on the rear.

The C9 comes with the latest version of the Magic Remote, and it remains a triumph of ergonomic design. It has the same contoured shape that fits comfortably in the hand, and the on-screen pointer is responsive, precise, and incredibly intuitive.

The button layout is almost identical, but LG has replaced most of the lettering with icons – perhaps in an effort to make one remote for all territories. However there are still direct access buttons for Netflix, Amazon, and Rakuten, along with a built-in microphone.

HDMI 2.1 with 48Gbps

The connections are all located at the rear of the C9, towards the bottom left as you face the screen. There’s a combination of rearwards and sideways facing connections, of which the HDMI 2.1 inputs will grab all the attention.

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LG’s decision to use HDMI 2.1 on its 2019 models makes them unique among 4K TVs, and means the connection can handle bit rates up to a massive 48Gbps (compared to HDMI 2.0’s 18Gbps). It also means they support all the features associated with this latest version of HDMI apart from 8K.

What that basically means is that the four HDMI inputs on the C9 can handle 4K at the higher frame rate of 120Hz, dynamic metadata for HDR, eARC (enhanced audio return channel), variable refresh rates (VRR), and auto low latency mode (ALLM). The last two are especially important for gamers.

How big of a competitive advantage the use of HDMI 2.1 is remains to be seen, because other manufacturers such as Samsung claim they can deliver all the same features using HDMI 2.0b. However, it does at least mean the C9 has a bulletproof future.

As far as other connections are concerned, the C9 also has three USB ports, twin terrestrial and satellite tuners, an optical digital output, a LAN port, a CI slot, and a line out that doubles as a headphone socket. On the wireless side of things, you get Wi-Fi (802.11ac) and Bluetooth (5.0).

There are guides at the rear for better cable management, thus helping to reduce clutter. However, three of the HDMI inputs face sideways and are only 12cm from the edge. As a result there’s the possibility of cables poking out the side of the screen, which doesn’t seem very well managed.

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Intuitive and intelligent

LG’s WebOS remains the best and most intuitive smart platform on the market. So much so that even Samsung copied the launcher bar on its Tizen operating system. Interestingly Samsung also added a second tier to Tizen, making access to certain content quicker and this year LG has returned the favour by adding something similar to WebOS.

There’s a menu shortcut that now appears on the left, rather than the right for no obvious reason, but otherwise WebOS remains the same. The user interface is still based on the launcher bar, but now the second tier adds what LG refers to as an AI Preview that suggests related content.

A new Intelligent Edit feature automatically orders your apps based upon frequency of use, and as with previous years the choice of apps is comprehensive. There’s the obvious ones like Netflix, Amazon, and YouTube, along with Now TV, Rakuten, and all the UK TV catch-up services.

The Home Dashboard, accessed via the launcher bar or directly using the remote, provides a single hub for all connected mobile, input and home IoT devices. You can access anything connected to the C9, and there’s also support for Apple AirPlay 2 (with HomeKit due to be added later this year).

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LG’s ThinQ open AI platform has been enhanced this year with Google Assistant built-in and Amazon Alexa built-in. You simply press the mic button for Google or the Amazon button for Alexa, and you can voice control the TV or ask questions to your heart’s content.

The use of AI extends to a new recommendation feature that monitors and analyses your viewing habits based not only on content but also the time of day. It will then make recommendations according to its analysis, although you can turn this feature off if it gets annoying.

With all these new AI features and smart assistants, you can almost forget the C9 is actually a TV. However since it is, there’s also a new channel banner, plus a TV guide, TV scheduler, channel list, and a recording capability using optional storage.

LG has simplified installation, which you can now do using your LG mobile, and the TV is able to auto-detect connected HDMI devices. LG has also added a mini browser and expanded the Gallery mode to include world famous travel attractions updated seasonally by TripAdvisor.

Second generation AI processing

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The smart platform isn’t the only aspect of the C9’s performance to get the AI treatment, and the picture quality has been equally blessed. However LG hasn’t forgotten the importance of getting the basics right, with picture modes for those who like their images to have a bit of punch, as well as those who prefer greater accuracy.

In fact when measured against the industry standards, the C9 delivers one of the most accurate pictures we have ever seen. There’s also a comprehensive set of picture controls, and even an auto calibration option where the TV generates its own test patterns. Amateurs and even professional calibrators are sure to be delighted by the level of control on offer.

The picture menus are largely the same as last year, but the de-contouring feature now has a dedicated control. This smoothes gradations and reduces banding in certain content. The Motion Pro feature, which uses black frame insertion (BFI) to improve motion handling has also been improved, and is now less susceptible to flicker.

The C9 features the second generation Alpha9 processor which makes use of a deep learning AI algorithm. This uses millions of content examples to analyse and optimise the picture depending on the type and quality of content. The idea is to monitor and recognise specific content, and then optimises the image accordingly.

This process of optimisation includes upscaling lower resolution content, applying noise reduction where necessary, and using sharpness enhancements to bring out more detail. There’s also a new AI Brightness feature that uses a light sensor to detect ambient light, and then optimise the brightness based on the viewing environment to improve the visibility in dark areas of the picture.

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Since this is an OLED TV the black levels are exceptional, and watching standard dynamic range (SDR) content the contrast is often breathtaking. The viewing angles are very wide, and thanks to the image accuracy, colours appear natural with an impressive level of detail. The pictures are also free of any of the unwanted artefacts that unfortunately plagued previous LG OLEDs.

Thanks to the AI processing, the images are clean and free of noise or banding. The upscaling is particularly effective, making even low resolution content watchable. The AI Brightness feature is also handy, allowing the overall brightness to imperceptibly adjust depending on the ambient light in the room. The motion handling was fairly good, but remains one of LG’s few weak spots.

The C9 supports both variable refresh rates (VRR), and auto low latency mode (ALLM), and these features can be enabled using the Fast Game Response setting. The new game mode offers more calibration options than in previous years, and serious gamers will be delighted to know that the input lag is a staggering 12.7ms. That’s the lowest measurement we’ve ever taken outside of a dedicated gaming monitor.

Cinematic HDR

The LG C9 includes an HDR Effect mode which attempts to make SDR content look like HDR by boosting the contrast and over-saturating the colours. That’s a bad idea because SDR content was never intended to look like HDR, so this mode is best avoided. The new Peak Brightness control is also intended to boost the luminance in a similar fashion to HDR, and once again is probably best left off.

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In general high dynamic range has been something of mixed bag on OLED TVs, in part because they can’t reach the levels of brightness seen on a QLED TV. While that’s still true for the C9, our sample topped out at 780 nits of peak luminance, the incredibly deep blacks and pixel precision of the self-emissive panel do deliver an impressive dynamic range with very detailed specular highlights. The colours are also superb, with the C9 producing saturated and realistic images.

The LG C9 supports a number of different HDR formats including HDR10 and HLG (broadcast HDR), and LG’s approach has always been to maintain the content creator’s intent as closely as possible. To ensure this is the case, a TV must tone map HDR content according to established industry standards. In testing, the C9 did precisely that, accurately tone mapping 1,000 and 4,000 nits material down to its own peak brightness without losing detail.

An OLED is very effective at delivering small areas of peak brightness because each pixel is illuminated, in fact it’s like having over eight million dimming zones. However it can struggle when handling a bright overall image, losing some impact along the way. In addition HDR10 content only has static metadata, with a single peak brightness number for an entire film. When tone mapping down to its inherent brightness capabilities, an OLED’s HDR image can appear too dark.

To combat this LG has developed a feature called Dynamic Tone Mapping. This analyses each scene on a frame-by-frame basis and adjusts the tone mapping accordingly, thus improving the overall brightness of an HDR image. This feature has been enhanced this year and on the C9 it proved very effective. The difference can be quite noticeable, with an obvious increase in overall brightness that’s achieved without sacrificing the original creative intent.

Dynamic tone mapping should not be confused with dynamic metadata, although the former is trying to replicate the latter. Dynamic metadata is when content is encoded with different peak luminance numbers (metadata) on a scene-by-scene basis. This can often result in a superior HDR experience, especially on displays with limited peak brightness.

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The C9 supports Dolby Vision which uses dynamic metadata, and currently Netflix, Amazon, Apple and 4K Blu-ray all offer content encoded in the format. However there is another version that also uses dynamic metadata called HDR10+, currently supported by Amazon and 4K Blu-ray.

At present LG doesn’t support the open-source HDR10+; in fact it’s the only version of HDR not included on its TVs. This is unfortunate because both Philips and Panasonic offer OLED TVs that support Dolby Vision and HDR10+, which will undoubtedly prove popular with those wishing to cover their bases.

Adaptive and immersive sound

When you consider how thin the C9 is, it’s a miracle this TV sounds as good as it does. The sloped stand plays its part by redirecting the sound from the speakers towards the listener, but LG has also added a host of new AI-enhanced features.

For a start there’s AI acoustic tuning, which uses the microphone in the remote to perform one touch sound tuning. This process analyses the acoustical environment and calibrates the TV accordingly. You get a chance to compare before and after and it's clear this feature really works. There’s a choice of three modes after tuning: Standard, Bass Boost, and Treble Boost.

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There’s also AI Sound which analyses audio to provide optimum sound depending on the type of genre. It even up-mixes 2-channel sound to virtual 5.1 surround sound for a more immersive experience. AI Sound can be applied to any content except Dolby Atmos, where the TV actually decodes the immersive format natively.

The result of all this audio jiggery-pokery is a TV that sounds genuinely impressive. Dialogue is clear and focused on the screen, music is nicely defined, and surround effects retain a sense of envelopment. There’s a crisp clarity to the treble, and even a decent amount of bass, which is a real surprise given the size zero shape of this TV.

All these attributes also apply when listening to Dolby Atmos content, where the application of psychoacoustic wizardry tricks you into thinking sounds are emanating from places where you know there’s no speaker. The result is a state-of-the-art sonic performance that combines intelligent application of acoustic processing with sensible design choices.

Should I buy one?

The LG C9 is another superb OLED 4K TV from the manufacturer that has single handedly taken the technology from small screen usage to pride of place in our living rooms. If it doesn’t seem massively different from last year’s C8, that’s because the previous generation was already a hugely impressive television.

LG has sensibly sought to take what made the C8 so successful and build on it, improving certain features and adding new ones where possible. The WebOS operating system has been given an AI make-over, turning the C9 into a digital hub and a smart assistant. There’s a comprehensive set of streaming apps, and a new feature that makes recommendations based on analysis of your viewing habits.

The sound quality has also been AI-enhanced and not only analyses the audio based on genre, but also offers an acoustic tuning feature to ensure your C9 is performing optimally. LG has included HDMI 2.1 inputs, ensuring its 2019 TVs will remain future-proof and gamers will be delighted by an input lag of less than 13ms.

OLED might well have reached its peak brightness, but that hasn’t stopped LG from delivering some of the most accurate images we have ever seen. The performance with SDR and HDR content is exceptional, and there’s a host of new picture features that are sure to please tweakers and professional calibrators.

The comprehensive nature of the C9’s HDR support makes the absence of the open-source HDR10+ format a mystery, and unfortunately puts the LG at a slight disadvantage to certain competition. However, in all other respects the LG C9 is one of the most complete and easily the smartest OLED ever made. If you’re looking for a new TV, it deserves to be on your short list.

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